OnsenQuest

Prefectures / Shiga

Satoyu Mukashibanashi Yuzanso

里湯昔話 雄山荘 · Ogoto Onsen

OK if covered (day visit)OK if covered (overnight)

Can you bathe here with a tattoo?

This is the question we built the site around, so we answer it per situation.

Visiting for the day

Yes, if you cover it up

Tattoos must be covered with a patch in the main baths.

Source: official website · checked 2026-09-14

Staying overnight

Yes, if you cover it up

Tattoos must be covered with a patch in the main baths. A private or in-room bath is also available.

Source: official website · checked 2026-09-14

How it scores

Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.

ViewWaterComfortSettingAccess

Verified by the editor

View3
Water3
Comfort4
Setting3.5
Access3.5
△Somewhere to sit — A small rest area
×Anything else nearby — Nothing else around

A large, well-kept hillside ryokan with a big bath hall, sauna and open-air baths, open to walk-in day bathers only from 11:00 to 14:30. The water is Ogoto's standard smooth alkaline spring. What sets it apart for overseas visitors is the written sticker exception: buy a cover patch at the shop and, if it hides the tattoo, you can use the main baths - one of very few inns in Shiga that says so.

Every onsen on this site is scored against the same written rubric, and every score has been reviewed by the editor. The ones marked Visited were also bathed in personally.

The baths

Indoor bath

A large bath hall themed on local folk tales - 'Benkei's Bell' for men, 'Dance of the Celestial Maiden' for women - with a sauna for four. Ogoto's alkaline simple spring (pH 9.0).

Open to day visitors

Open-air bath

Open-air bath attached to each bath hall, plus a deck for cooling off outside.

Open to day visitors

In-room bath

66 rooms have their own open-air bath, many facing Lake Biwa.

Overnight guests only

A private bath means nobody else is in the water with you — often the practical answer if the shared baths are closed to tattooed guests.

Practical details

Day visits
Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.
11:00-14:30 (last entry 14:00); some days closed to day bathers for cleaning - check the inn's published calendar
Day visit price
¥2,200
2,200 yen from junior-high age up, 1,100 yen for ages 3 to elementary school, under 3 free; bath towel included. No booking needed. At the front desk you sign an agreement to the day-bathing rules and wear a wristband. The inn publishes which days are open to day bathers three months at a time. Lunch-plan guests can bathe for an extra 600 yen.
Staying overnight
Yes
Getting there
In the satoyama hills above Ogoto, about 5 minutes by car from JR Ogoto-Onsen Station (around 20 minutes from Kyoto on the Kosei Line). The inn's free shuttle picks up from the station on request between 8:00 and 21:00 - phone when you arrive.
Official website
yuzanso.co.jp

Visit the official website ↗

Book it

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Check rates and availabilityBooking.com ↗Day-pass tickets and coupons for ShigaAsoview (Japanese-language site) ↗

About the day-pass link: Asoview is the main place day-use onsen in Japan sell entry tickets and discount coupons in advance. It is a Japanese-only site, so use your browser’s translation — you show the ticket on your phone at the door.

Getting in from the airport

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Fixed-price airport transfer to ShigaAirport Taxi (English) ↗

Why not the train: the last leg to an onsen is usually a local bus with nowhere to put a suitcase. A fixed-price car is booked in English and quoted before you travel, tolls and fuel included.